1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to character input, and more particularly, to an apparatus for inputting characters and method thereof. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for supporting a high-speed character input.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a communication terminal has a key arrangement as shown in FIG. 1. And, a character set configuration according to the key arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 1 is a layout of a general key alignment used for a communication terminal, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of a general alphabet set configuration in a communication terminal.
Referring to FIG. 1, a communication terminal is provided with a keypad including a plurality of keys.
The keypad includes keys used in inputting characters such as Korean letters, English letters, numerals, special symbols and the like. By assigning Korean consonants and vowels, English alphabets, numerals, special symbols to the keys for the character input, a character input by a key input can be implemented.
Single-figure numbers are normally assigned to the keys for the numerals, respectively. And, the key having the corresponding numeral assigned thereto is named a numeral key.
And, alphabets and Korean consonants and vowels are assigned to the numeral key by a set unit as well as the corresponding numeral.
For instance, eight alphabet sets are assigned to the numeral keys in order, respectively in a manner that eight numerals 2 to 9, as shown in FIG. 2, are mapped to the numeral keys, respectively.
And, special symbols are assigned to the rest of the numeral keys, i.e., the numeral key-0 and the numeral key-1 except the former numeral keys to which the alphabet sets are assigned.
In case of attempting to input alphabets via the above-explained key structure, a user completes an input of a specific alphabet in a manner of selecting one of the numeral keys having the alphabet sets assigned thereto and then pressing the selected numeral key at least once.
The alphabet inputting process is explained for example as follows.
First of all, it is assumed that a user attempts to input a small alphabet letter ‘s’.
The user is able to input ‘s’ by pressing the numeral key-7 four times.
Thus, in the related art, a specific key has to be pressed maximum four times to input a specific alphabet letter, which causes inconvenience to a user. This is because maximum four alphabet letters are mapped to one key of a related art communication terminal.
Moreover, since a specific alphabet letter is inputted by pressing a specific key at least once, an input error frequently takes place in the related art. For instance, since three alphabet letters are assigned to one key in most cases, a user is accustomed to press a key up to three times. Yet, alphabet ‘s’ or ‘z’ is a fourth element of an alphabet set including four alphabets. So, a user, who is accustomed to pressing a key three times, may input a third element ‘r’ or ‘y’ of the alphabet set instead of inputting ‘s’ or ‘z’.